In Test cricket, Rohit Sharma made history by becoming just the fourth player to strike a six off his first two deliveries.
In Test cricket, Rohit Sharma made history by being just the fourth player to strike a six off his first two deliveries. It’s interesting to note that three Indian players are among the four on this list.
On Monday, September 30, at Green Park, Kanpur, India’s openers Rohit and Yashasvi Jaiswal came out to bat with a good attitude after dismissing Bangladesh for 233 on Day 4 of the second Test. Yashasvi, who was added to the playing eleven for this match, set the tone early by smashing three fours in the opening over against Hasan Mahmud, an in-form bowler. Rohit then took the ball to Khaled Ahmed.
With the opening ball of his innings, Rohit raced down the track and swung down the line to send the new SG ball over long-on for a massive maximum. The 37-year-old then launched a signature pull shot over a deep square leg. He now stands with Foffie Williams, Sachin Tendulkar, and Umesh Yadav as players who have opened an innings with two sixes off the first two balls.
In 1948, Williams hit Jim Laker for two straight sixes. When Tendulkar smashed consecutive sixes off Nathan Lyon in 2013, he became a member of the West Indies cricket team. In contrast, Umesh hit spinner George Linde of South Africa for two consecutive sixes in 2019.
Indian players to score six runs off the opening ball in a Test match
The first Indian cricket player to strike a six off the opening ball of a Test innings was MS Dhoni. 2006 saw him hit Pedro Collins in Basseterre for a maximum. Six years later, on his first ball up in Bengaluru, Zaheer Khan smacked Tim Southee for a six. Over time, Tendulkar, Umesh, and Rohit added their names to the list.
Eventually, Rohit struck one four and three sixes before being bowled out for 23 from 11 balls. The veteran cricket player gave the home team the impetus they needed to extract a result from the rain-shortened match.
